Employees sometimes have access to more information than they need to perform their job duties, which raises the risk they will unknowingly share that information with others. This leads to a host of problems, from the impact on morale if sensitive information is accidentally shared with other employees, to the loss of trade secrets, pricing strategies and other competitive information. On top of that, many organizations are paying for licenses they don’t need.
By reviewing access rights and restricting them appropriately, you can help reduce risk, costs and inefficiencies.
Next steps
- Review access and authorization rights on a regular basis: Review these rights wherever appropriate — on your network, in your accounting systems, in your ERP systems — to make sure the user really needs that access level, and determine how often you will do so. Setting a regular cadence further reduces risk.
- Regularly review licensing: Ensure counts are accurate and only those who need the licenses have them.
- Assign an owner to your line of business software: Involve that individual in the approval process for granting access to systems. Have this individual review the list of people who have access at least annually, if not bi-annually. If individuals need access to new functionality in your systems, involve the owner in that approval process.